Life at 169

Thursday, August 17, 2017

I haven't read a long book out loud to my kids in ages because, you know, books on tape. They save the vocal cords, my friends. But recently I got fed up with the disappearance of my book Barrel of Laughs, Vale of Tears, so I bought a new copy (not even a used copy--but an actual, for-real, brand-new copy) and when it arrived it felt like Christmas. I started reading it to the kids the other night and it was so much fun! The book is hilarious. I'll quote one of my favorite lines for you. Ahem. "The worms curled and uncurled in spasms of glee." Hilarious. The kids have been laughing so hard and they have such great senses of humor and I am just thoroughly enjoying every second of reading this book to them!

In other news, I was tickling Clover today and she gasped out a weak, "Save me!" in between her giggles. I asked, "Who is going to save you?" She responded without any hesitation, "Cowen." Awww. Those two have such a sweet bond.

Annabel has started saying, "Stop it!" indignantly, loudly, and with a definite squawk. Only it sounds like, "Op it!" which is funny and makes me want to annoy her all the time.

We started a four month family economy project to try and teach the children many valuable fiscal lessons. Right now they are in college earning skill points that will help them land a good job when they graduate (on Labor Day) and earn enough money to meet their needs. We told them that after they graduate they have to pay for (with their fake money) everything that we currently pay for and give to them including a mortgage payment, utilities, food, etc. I overheard Eli and Emeline talking later and Eli said to Emeline, "I'm just worried that I won't have enough money for food." I was dying. Yes, little man, if you don't earn enough skill points to get a good job we, your loving parents, will starve you. FYI, Eli currently has the most skill points of anyone.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Today I took the kids to Beus Pond and met up with some homeschooling friends. At one point my friend Melinda and I were walking with Oskar, Clover, Annabel and Eleanor (Melinda's one year old). The kids found some very large rocks to clamber upon and they proceeded to clamber with gusto. Then Eleanor fell off a rock on her head--it made that unpleasant watermelon squish sound. Fortunately she wasn't that high off the ground and it sounded worse than it was. That didn't keep Eleanor from crying, loudly, and longly.

Clover took all this in and froze on the rock where she was standing. Then she started saying, "Mom! This is very dangerous! This is very dangerous! This is very dangerous!" It sounded more like, "Dis very daynjous!" I had to lift her off the rock because she refused to move. She didn't even twitch. It was darling. I'm glad one of my children has a sense of self-protection.

*Melinda and I have noted that Annabel and Eleanor make splendid twin names. They are almost exactly the same age, but, alas, look nothing alike.

Monday, June 5, 2017

I went on a mountain bike ride with Cowen and Eli this morning. We went to Snowbasin and took the Ogden Overlook trail to the Sardine Peak trail and made a loop. It took roughly 2.5 hours and my legs are still burning. It was so gorgeous. My favorite part was when we were stopped at a steep, rocky part (Eli was our fearless leader at the time and he hadn't made it up), so Cowen was muttering about how it was a terrible spot to try and get going again. Then he said, "And I'm off!" Two seconds later he was stuck again and said, "And I'm in a bush." Hee hee. I ran into a tree a la Brett, but, fortunately, I always assume I'm about to die so I was going very slowly and my wheel just bounced off it causing me to wobble dangerously before I could proceed at my normal, slow, wobbly rate. Very, very, very good times.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Yesterday morning I served eggs, biscuits, and cantaloupe for breakfast. When Harriet entered the dining room and saw her plate with eggs and cantaloupe on it she said, "Cantaloupe! What a glorious day!" Harriet is six. It was hilarious.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Just got back from hiking the Ogden Overlook trail up Snow Basin way. It was indescribably gorgeous. We encountered a little snow (at one point it was at my waist so I had to shove Eli up), but mostly just lots of lovely wildflowers and green and amazing vistas. On the way down we were running and Eli said, "This makes me feel like we are on an epic adventure."

I said, "I get to be the dwarf."

Eli said, "No, you get to be the cook who likes to hike."

Me, "What??"

Eli, "And I'm the ranger, and Cowen is the warrior, and Ben is the animal trainer."

Cook who likes to hike??? I told him he was fired and that I thought it felt like Last of the Mohicans and he'd better pipe down before we alerted the French or hostile Indians to our location. Cook who likes to hike indeed. At least I got a job, he left Miriam out entirely and she was the only one macho enough to trip over a root and sustain injuries.

(Ben Nielson, a friend of Cowen's, joined us this morning, so the group consisted of me, Miriam, Cowen, Eli, and Ben.)

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Eli's writing journal entry today made me all kinds of happy, so I am sharing it. Childhood is the best (and yes, I changed all the spelling so you could understand it):

"Yesterday and today I've been playing that I am an ice warrior. I come from the coldest place in Antarctica and in that place is flat lands that no one has been before. I have a ice blade and a golden handle and a shield. I live in a ice village on the flat lands. I have mountain goat furs on my body and my legs. I also have white hares' furs on my arms and a black bears cape and a white mountain goat furs and a wolf pet."

Today Eli was my jogging buddy and we went up Wheeler Creek and through Icebox Canyon. It was beyond gorgeous. We passed a huge tree trunk with a crook at one end, and Eli said that every time he sees that crook he thinks there was a giant that lived here and when the giant died he became the river. I love it.

"The story is told that in ancient Rome a group of women were, with vanity, showing their jewels one to another. Among them was Cornelia, the mother of two boys. One of the women said to her, 'And where are your jewels?' To which Cornelia responded, pointing to her sons, 'These are my jewels.' They grew to be two of the most persuasive and effective reformers in Roman history. It is so obvious that the great good and the terrible evil in the world today are the sweet and the bitter fruits of the rearing of yesterday's children. As we train a new generation, so will the world be in a few years. If you are worried about the future, then look to the upbringing of your children." Gordan B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints